Chan Chun Sing, in his capacity as minister-in-charge of the People's Association (PA), invoked the Protection against Online Falsehoods and Manipulations Act (POFMA) against Facebook posts made by three individuals.
These posts falsely alleged that the PA and the Residents' Committees (RCs) were involved in the organisation of a dinner event at SAFRA Jurong on Feb. 15, which later turned out to be a significant Covid-19 cluster.
The individuals named in the POFMA Office media release are:
- A Facebook user going by "Henryace Ace".
- A Facebook user called Sebastian Ying.
- Lim Tean, leader of the People's Voice party, also on Facebook.
False claims about "PA function" at SAFRA Jurong
The POFMA Office did not specify the posts or the exact profiles of the named individuals, although government fact-checker Factually stated that the posts were made from March 8 to March 15.
A Facebook post by a user going by "Henryace Ace" was shared on March 15.
The post appears to have been taken down, but as of 2pm on March 18, it had garnered over 200 shares.
You can see a screenshot of the post with its false claim below:
Screenshot from Henryace Ace's Facebook page.
Factually's explanation
According to Factually, the dinner event at SAFRA Jurong was not organised by the PA or RCs:
"This is entirely false. PA and the RCs were not involved in the organisation of the dinner event at SAFRA Jurong on 15 February 2020, and were not in a position to cancel it.
PA and the RCs also did not fund nor publicise the dinner event.
The event was a private dinner function organised by a singing instructor for members of her singing groups."
Correction directions have been issued to the three Facebook users, and they are required to include a correction notice in their posts.
Top image via SAFRA Jurong Facebook page.